Promoting Growth in Small Scale Irrigation in Malawi
Dr. Canford Chiroro & Dr. Elizabeth Harrison
Department of Anthropology,
University of Sussex, UK
Presentation of Preliminary Results at Pacific Hotel, Lilongwe
21st November, 2014
Outline
•Irrigation as the privileged solution
•Research focus
•Approach and methodology
•Key messages for discussion
2
Irrigation as a Privileged Solution
• Questionable success of irrigation in past
• Low rate of development of irrigation in Africa
• Irrigation as adaptation to climate change
• Improving rural livelihoods and food security
• How do we make it work?
3
Focus of our research project
• Access and entitlement to land and water
• Innovation and knowledge exchange
• External actors and building resilience in agriculture
• Governance of agricultural water in the context of climate change
4
Approach and Methodology
• Ethnographic research covering
Muona and Chitsukwa Irrigation
Schemes (2013-2014)
• 152 household questionnaires
• Key informant interviews
• 12 focus groups
• Participant observation
• Photo-elicitation
• Literature review
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Location of the Study Areas
• Lower Shire
• Droughts and flooding
• Siltation from uplands
• Malaria
• High evaporation losses
• High land scarcity
• Land pressure and degradation
high
• High irrigation potential
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Muona Irrigation Scheme
• Large scheme 450ha
• Rice and maize
• 2260 plot holders, 4000
families supported
• Derives water from
Tangadzi River
• Fell into disrepair, recently
rehabilitated
Chitsukwa Irrigation Scheme
• Community initiated,
3000
government and NGO
supported
• Water from Elephant Marsh,
shallow wells
• Rapid growth in last ten
years
• Maize scheme
• Treadle pump based
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2400
1800
1200
600
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2013
0
Local Problems
“The water was such a problem so much that
I bet you couldn't’ fill a bucket”
Impact of Irrigation on Livelihoods
“Last year I harvested 80 bags of rice.
“Before we started irrigating we used to
This year I am targeting 120 bags.
harvest six bags from an acre of land in the
Irrigation has really changed our lives
dry land. With the treadle pump we are
here. We don’t eat much rice, but we
getting ten bags from 0.1hectares, that’s an
have enough to exchange for maize
area more than twice as small as an acre!
and feed our families all year round.
Initially no one believed it would work; we
This cow and that solar panel you see
had never seen it before. Now everyone is
was bought with money from selling
using it”.
rice”
Male respondent and pioneer treadle pump
Male farmer, Muona Irrigation Scheme
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farmer, Chitsukwa Irrigation Scheme
Focus on Irrigation is at Cost to
Livestock Development
• Concerns of livestock security not dealt with
• Fewer extension officers for livestock production
• Irrigators appear more organized
• Encroachment into livestock grazing areas by irrigators
• Livestock farming a preferred livelihood
“Crop farmers are lucky, they have
the support from agriculture. There is
nothing for livestock farmers”
Interview with famer in Chitsukwa
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Crop-livestock tensions
12
Labour shortages constrain effective
scheme management
• Release of land for
communal grazing
• Adoption of SRI for rice
production
• Maintenance of canals
• Water access for poorest
• Conflicts
13
Challenges with achieving uniformity
14
Transferring knowledge via lead
farmers may result in resistance
• Limited extension services
• Demand driven extension??
• Extension bias towards funded
projects
• Strong bias against farmer knowhow
• Belief that lead farmers are paid
• Lead farmers as volunteers
• Majority of lead farmers male
• Training attended by landowner
• Ganyu for knowledge sharing
• Elitist model not showing evidence of
cascade
15
“No…I did not take up SRI. I
am a lead farmer in the dry
land”.
Interview with Lead Farmer in Muona
“I was told, ‘What can babies
like you tell us about farming?
We have been farming even
before you were born!’”
Interview with lady lead farmer,
Chitsukwa
Success of irrigation will depend on
addressing general issues
• Access to information
and knowledge
• Reasonable credit
• Markets and commodity
pricing
• Transport networks
• Input supply
16
Typical Gross Margin Budget for 0.1ha
maize plot
17
Building resilience through irrigation
may be at expense of others
• Concentrating on “our scheme”
• Insufficient coordination at the catchment level
• Whose resilience matters?
18
Impact outside Project Area
“They told us to talk to our
donor to put a bund for
us”.
“The new scheme in
Makhapa has made us
poor even before it has
started working”
19
Local targets, catchment impacts
“We thought we were
increasing land under
production, but now we
realize that we actually
reduced it by letting them
farm along rivers”
Extension Officer, Nsanje
Rehabilitation of Scheme raises hopes
but lead in disappointment
• Competing priorities
• Changing context
• New intake structure
• No to levelling
• Some canals cleared
• Some blocks still producing
maize only
• Canals cleared too early in
Chitsukwa
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Investment in hard versus soft
technologies
• Contestation around land and water rights which influence
management practices
• Short tenancies limit crop choices, fertility management
• Fear of land takeover, illegal land transactions
• Farmers outside scheme have diminished rights to water
• Protection bund reinforces this in Muona
22
Proportionality as a basis of sharing
water may disadvantage some farmers
• Scheme is unlevelled
• Water use efficiency not
considered
• Water sharing when water levels
drop
• Regulations enforced
• Scheme design creates
opportunity for conflict
• Sharing treadle pump as basis for
proportional access to water
• Weak cooperation over canal
maintenance
Farmer Innovation
• Costs and benefits
considered
• Labour requirements and
risks
• Rigidly designed
technologies constrain
innovation
• Limited support from
technical institutions
24
Gender dimensions
• Entitlement and access to
land
• Labour allocation on gender
basis, economic implications
• Farming knowledge and
decision making
• Role of men and women in
scheme management
• More work needed on
concept of gender equality
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